Bright Lights, Big (???) City...

Quote for the Day:

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes"

~Andy Warhol

Today my dining room was turned into an interview set and day one of filming is now in the bag!!!

My chiropractor hired a professional cinematographer to make a videotaped "testimonial" of the amazing changes in my life since I started getting treatment.

Dr. Leonette first asked me around Christmastime if I would do this.  I readily agreed but no definitive date was set.  The subject came up last week and suddenly we decided to get it done this week.  I've been fretting over this ever since I found out we were doing it this week.  

Today was the interview portion as well as some "B-roll" footage.  The interview portion was obviously the hardest part and I'm glad that portion is over.  I'm not comfortable having my voice recorded and, for obvious reasons, it is hard to talk about this very difficult time in my life.  Tomorrow we are filming some more "B-roll" footage and then Jason will edit it into something that is, hopefully, worth watching!

In other words, I'm hoping Jason can turn this "sow's ear into a silk purse"!  :)

Loretta

A "Selfie"...

Quote for the Day:

Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing. 

~ Harriet B. Braiker 

I don't do "selfies" because...well...because I don't like pictures of myself...taken by me or anybody else.  

But I came to a realization this past weekend and I thought a picture would be appropriate.

I have had a CONSTANT battle with my weight since I can remember...seven or eight years old?   That is no way for anyone to live their life.  I have tried lots of things over the years.  Some worked and some didn't.  

At age 40, I weighed the most I've ever weighed.  And my weight has fluctuated a LOT over the past 13 years since then.  However, it has slowly, slowly, slowly come down.

This past weekend I was adding it up, and I now weigh 38 pounds LESS than I did at the age of 40!  That only equals about 3 pounds a year...but 3 pounds OFF a year is better than 3 pounds ON a year!  

When my daughter gave me this shirt in September, it was too tight.

For comparison purposes, here's one of me at my son's wedding in 2005 (and this wasn't even my highest weight)...

The moral to the story???  Don't just look at the day-to-day details, but consider the big picture when seeing where you've come!  It helps give motivation for the future!

Loretta

Meet My New "Toy"...

Quote for the Day:

"I want a car that will last 10 years or longer because I totally hate the process of researching, shopping for a new car, and then haggling for the price. I wish I could just snap my fingers and my car is there."

~Kiran Ahluwalia 

..."Toy"...as in "Toyota"!

We've been shopping for a good, reliable vehicle since Andy's Subaru is starting to have "issues" that aren't worth getting fixed due to too much rust around the wheel-wells.  :(  It's still good enough to tool around town, or even the state, in but not good enough to take on longer trips, etc.

So for about the last 3-4 weeks we've been used-car shopping.  And that quote at the top of the page???  YEP...that's exactly how we feel!  We like to buy reliable used cars with low mileage and run them till the wheels fall off...10+ years...usually up to 200,000+ miles.

Friday afternoon we thought we had found the car we were going to buy but wanted to check in with the salesman that sold us our Toyota RAV4  1.5 years ago to see if he had anything that could compete with the Toyota Corolla S we found on Friday in Fairmont.  Unfortunately, he did not have anything that could compare.  

Since we still had most of the Saturday left after that stop, Andy asked if we should take a drive down to Buckhannon Auto Mall and see if the Toyota dealership there had anything that could compete with the car and price of the Corolla S  up at the dealership in Fairmont.  I really didn't want to make the extra trip to Buckhannon because I thought it was just a waste of time and gas...but I agreed anyway since he wanted to go.

Lo and behold...guess what?  We ended up finding a Corolla LE with the extra options on it that we had liked on the "S" model.  They COULD BEAT the "S" in price AND this one is a "Certified Pre-Owned" which gives it extra warranties with Toyota!  YAY!

We now have a beautiful 2011 Toyota Corolla addition to our gaggle of automobiles!  :)

And look...it comes with a "flying WV" emblem already attached!!!  (For those of you who aren't from West-by-God Virginia, the "flying WV" is the West Virginia University logo and shows your support of the WVU sports teams!)

Loretta

Finally!!!

Quote for the Day:

"Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow"

~my Dad

I FINALLY got my "Singer" stained glass sign hung up in my sewing room!!!  YAY!!!

I will hang no sign before its time.  :-)  

I needed Andy's help to drill the screw into the hardwood, and anything I need Andy's help with gets done when it gets done...and not a moment sooner.  

Not that I'm any better at getting things done in a timely manner.  But at least THIS DELAY I can blame on him.  LOL

Loretta

One of My Projects...

Quote for the Day:

"Thanks to my mother, not a single cardboard box has found its way back into society. We receive gifts in boxes from stores that went out of business twenty years ago."
~Erma Bombeck 

A couple of weeks before Christmas, my daughter-in-law asked me if I could make some bean bags for Andrew.  It seems he has developed a fondness for them after seeing them in one of his therapist's offices.  

A search for info on the internet turned up sites that showed them with appliqued numbers or letters on them.  I didn't have any stencils and every time I tried to print stencils off of the internet, my computer would freeze up and go whacky on me.  

For a couple of weeks I ruminated on what to do for a "stencil".  As Christmas time approached, faster and faster, I started to PANIC about these bean bags.  What to do...what to do???

Finally, I decided I had to face the sewing machine and just figure out SOMETHING!  That's when I saw it...it had been there all along right in front of my face.  

My EMBROIDERY MACHINE!!!

I set to work cutting 5.5" blocks out of my own pre-cut 5.5" strips (from my scrap-users system).

I picked out a variety of cute "kid" prints and  embroidered the numbers 1-10 on them.  I chose one fabric for all the backings so that you would know right away which was the front or back.  

Right sides together, I sewed the front embroidered squares to the back squares, leaving about 2" open on one side.  Then I turned them "right side out" through that small opening, using a blunt pointed object to poke the corners out where they belong.  After pressing, this is what they looked like...waiting to be filled...

The cheapest beans I could find were from Aldi's.  I purchased 2- 2 pound bags, but only ended up using just shy of one whole bag.

Making a funnel out of a piece of paper, and using a cup to hold the bag while I filled it, I put 1/2 cup of beans into each bag...

After each bag was filled, I took it to my regular sewing machine and, making sure there were no beans in the way of the needle, I used a zigzag stitch and stitched all the way around each bag...

I gifted these to my grandson, Andrew, on Christmas and he LOVED them!  

In addition to lining them up in numerical order, he also liked to put them into the box and then turn the box upside down over his head making them rain down on him!  LOL

There are so many ways to play with bean bags and they were so cheap and easy to make!   Now who do you know that would like for you to make them some bean bags??? 

Loretta

Recap of Christmas...

Okay, okay...I know I'm very late with this post...but the family came FIRST last week...then I had to work so far this week, so I haven't had time to get my Christmas post done before now.  And that's my story and I'm sticking with it!  LOL

Paul, Trinity, Andrew and Alex were the only ones who came in for Christmas this year, but our neighbors, Wes and Kathy joined us for Christmas dinner!  

So, without further ado, here are the pictures from Paul & Trinity's visit and Christmas...

We actually opened presents on Christmas eve so that the kids could take their time and because with babies, you don't always know what their sleep/eat schedule is going to be.  LOL

Andrew stopped and played with each toy as he opened it!  He LOVES books, so when he got the set of four Thomas the Train books from Andy and me, he stopped and looked through each book page by page!  :)

Erin and Dale sent me a RED cover for my new KitchenAid mixer, but Andy thought it would look better as a "hat" on me!  

Alex and Andy both got knit hats to keep their bald heads warm!!! 

Alex got a sleeper to go with his hat!!!  

Don't you just LOVE LOVE LOVE his big eyes!!!

Paul and Trinity...

"Now...let's check inside those ears, Ginger."

Hope your Christmas was filled with lots of love, happiness, and family, too!

Loretta

Happy New Year!!!

To paraphrase Charles Dickens:  "It was the best of years, it was the worst of years..."

I am soooooooooo glad to be putting 2013 behind me.  Health-wise, it was probably my worst year ever.   Thank God I found my chiropractor in September and my year ended on a high-note...health-wise...and I'm looking forward to continuing to improve my health in 2014!!!

Personally, I'm always glad to see the winter holidays come to an end because I always end up eating too much sugar and "heavy" foods.  Once the holidays are over, I can get back to my "normal" routine.  For the first time in weeks, I was able to get a good night's sleep last night and we've been getting rid of all the pies, candy, etc., that have been in the house the last couple of weeks.

Time to move forward with 2014!

We have some plans in the works right now so when they come to fruition I'll share them with you!

While Andy enjoys his "Twilight Zone" marathon today, I thought I'd look back and review the quilts I've FINISHED in 2013...

Three quilts were hand-quilted...

...and two were machine quilted...

I'm also going to include in this review the 4 double-flannel receiving blankets with crocheted edging that I made this year...

All quilts and blankets were made with love sewn in every stitch!  I'm so glad they were appreciated by the people who received them!   That appreciation makes it all worthwhile!  :)

Loretta